The Man Of The Hour

Forty-five minutes since Winter Glass had started playing their first song and the party had begun. More people continued to arrive at the lodge, diving into the party with both feet, while the groups of friends inside shared drinks, danced in the den, socialized, and found whatever else around the lodge they could use as entertainment. Outside, the tramcar made it's final delivery of the night, bringing in one more group of ten or so teens who were running fashionably late to the event.

Storming ahead of all of them was a slim, petite black-haired girl; Juliet Clark. Her hair was wavy, hanging down just atop her healthy sized breasts and her green eyes were sharp and full of determination. Behind the girl, struggling to keep up, were two of her close friends from the cheer squad, a ditsy blonde by the name Claire Thomas, and the newest of her friends, a brunette, Lila Smith. Unlike these two, it wasn't ever one of Juliet's intentions to go to a party hosted by Brian White, but when she saw her cousin's best friend with that scumbag, Juliet had to know what was going on.

Unfortunately, Juliet's one woman mission quickly expanded as Claire got a text from her boyfriend Henry Carter, one of JJ's teammates on the Gliding Wolves, telling her to come up to the party. This caused Lila who, as Juliet would call it, had the unfortunate luck to have a crush on Brian, to want to come up as well. Juliet agreed to bring the pair, but she wasn't looking to have a fun time, she was going to check in on both Mindy and her cousin.

"Julie, please slow down!" Claire begged as she nearly tumbled into the snow, her doe brown eyes meekly staring up at the girl,

"We're not going to miss anything, the party is still going to be going for hours," Lila added as she did her best to support Claire's weight and help her find balance,

Juliet spun back to the girls, "Look, I told both of you, I'm not here to party. I don't even want to be here, but if Brian is fucking with Mindy then I need to make sure he's not being a piece of shit while doing it and isn't going to end up hurting Kenny either. Once we do that, I'm out of here," Juliet sharply reiterated what she had told them before they had even got in the car,

"Julie, your friend is probably having sex with Brian as we speak," Lila pointed out, her tone holding a touch of envy, "That's not a problem for anyone involved, and I don't see how your cousin even works into this,"

"Yeah...can't we just have some fun? There hasn't been a big party like this in months," Claire added with a pleading smile. Juliet let out a scoffing exhale and cupped a hand over her face, "Quinn is going to be here too, you know you always have fun with her,"

Juliet's hand fell away from her face and her head lightly rocked, "We'll...find Quinn, stay for a few songs and a drink, but then I am out of here. And if Brian so much as tries to put his hands on me to dance, I'm sending his nuts right up through his mouth," The brunette warned, though Lila and Claire were immediately all smiles,

"Leave Brian to me," Lila said as confidently as she could, "If he isn't with your friend all night, I'll make sure to keep him busy,"

"Pfft, fat chance, you really think that playboy is gonna go for you?" Claire teasingly replied causing Lila to let out a small gasp and lightly smack Claire on the arm,

"Oh and like you're so high and mighty with your little goalie boyfriend, it didn't take much to reel him in," Lila fired back. the two slipping right into a teasing, play-fight,

"Don't make me have to separate you two," Juliet warned as the girls continued up the small pathway, making to the hopping lodge, and letting themselves right in through the front door.

Meanwhile, a little ways behind the trio, two more teenagers who shared the tramcar up leisurely strolled up the path side by side. One was an absolutely stunning redhead with a plush figure and a pair of breasts that put every other girl to shame and the other was none other than Eric Roosevelt himself. "Zoey...I don't know about this, maybe coming here was a bad idea," Eric grimaced to the girl next to him, his eyes looking up in fear as the lodge drew closer and closer,

"Nonsense," Zoey easily replied as she reached out and placed a comforting hand on Eric's upper back, "Brian invited you, your old friends are here and want to see you too, but more importantly you need to use this chance to find your closure or fix the mistake you made months ago," Zoey reminded the brown-haired teen.

Zoey had met Eric when he moved to Dartwin just over three months ago, and the pair fell into a friendship like two peas in a pod. They liked the same things, laughed at the same jokes, had almost identical school schedules, and above all else, Zoey was the first person to make him genuinely happy since he broke up with Anna. Zoey found out very quickly how devastated Eric was having to leave his girlfriend when he moved towns, and when she saw his chance to either fix that or get real closure, she pressed him to take it. The redhead only wanted what was best for her friend, and if that was getting back with Anna, then she'd help. But...if it was moving on from Anna to someone new that he also formed a close connection to...well she'd more than eagerly do that as well.

Eric nervously was rubbing his hands together as the reached the bottom of the lodge steps, "You sure? Maybe bringing up the past to go and do this will be a bad thing, Anna's probably moved on by now,"

"If that's the case, then closure will set you free," Zoey easily replied, "But if not then you owe it to both of yourselves to talk this out. I already know you regret not trying to make long distance work, Eric. I wouldn't have let that happen if I knew back then, but not that I do, I'll be damned if I let you make another mistake, like missing this chance," The redhead finished with a smile, her bright blue eyes glowing with positivity, "Trust me, everything is going to work out just fine,"

"I really wish I had your optimism," Eric said with a breathy uncertain laugh. The teen wait a moment, sucking in a long breath as he tried to calm his nerves. Seeing his ex-girlfriend for the first time since leaving Greenwall was making an absolute mess of him. He wasn't sure if he feared seeing her happy and moved on or eager to jump back into it with him more. But Zoey was right, he needed to find out, "How's my hair?" Eric asked with a final sharp exhale,

"Hmmm," Zoey hummed as she reached out and gave a few minor corrections to the deep brown cut, "There you go, now you're looking like a million bucks. Anna will have to love it," She teasingly added to the end,

"You can stop that at any time," Eric playfully glared as she tried his best not to blush, "You also sure you're gonna be alright here without me? I know you don't know anyone here,"

"Totally, I'd love to meet more people, especially your old friends from school," Zoey instantly replied with no hesitation, "Besides, I want to be here for support if you need me for anything,"

"You...are the best, thanks," Eric sincerely replied before the pair both looked back up at the door, "Shall we?"

"After you," Zoey said, extending a hand, allowing Eric to walk up the steps ahead of her and enter the party.